Thursday, June 14, 2001
Woods has rest of field thinking it has
to be perfect
By MARK CRAIG
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
TULSA, Okla. — Basically, according to David Duval, runner-up
to you-know-who at the Masters, all that's needed to beat you-know-who
this week is to play “mistake-free” golf.
Mistake-free. At the U.S. Open? At Southern Hills Country Club,
where fairways average 27 yards across and a par 4 stretches 491
yards?
Mistake-free. With all that Oklahoma wind swirling about? With
the Sooners sauna pushing the heat index to 100 degrees for Tuesday's
practice rounds?
Yep. Mistake-free major championship golf. So that's what it takes
to beat Tiger Woods.
“The big key to playing against Tiger and to beating Tiger,”
Duval said, “is to really concentrate on your strengths and
to play those, and to not make mistakes and try to do things you
can't do.”
Duval, being the mortal that he is, made a few of those mistakes
down the stretch at the Masters this year and, surprise, finished
second. He was 14 under par. Woods went 16 under and completed
the “Tiger Slam,” having won the 2000 U.S. Open, British
Open and PGA Championship before the 2001 Masters.
Now Woods enters the 101st U.S. Open as maybe the heaviest favorite
in, well, 101 years of U.S. Open competition. USA Today's Danny
Sheridan has Woods at even-odds to win an unprecedented fifth
consecutive major. Normal odds for the favorite are about 10-1.
The victory lap begins Thursday.
“Would I put money on me?” Woods asked the media Tuesday.
“Probably not, just because I don't think it would be a good
business decision based on the odds.”
People laughed. Then Woods finished his thought:
“Now, do I like my chances? Yes.”
Phil Mickelson, at 9-1, is Sheridan's second choice. Duval is
10-1, Vijay Singh 12-1 and two-time U.S. Open winner Ernie Els
15-1.
Other contenders include Sergio Garcia (25-1), who dueled with
Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship and has rediscovered his game
after nearly two years in hiding. Also given a chance are Davis
Love III (20-1), who has played only once since the Masters because
of a bulging disc in his neck; and Tom Lehman (30-1), who shot
the course record for 72 holes (268) while winning the 1996 Tour
Championship at Southern Hills.
“The way to overcome Tiger,” Garcia said, “is to
be perfect.”
And if you're not?
“Then congratulate Tiger,” Garcia said.
Mistake-free. Perfect. C'mon.
“You can't play mistake-free golf; nobody does that,”
Love said. “The course is going to be tough. The wind is
going to be tough. The competition is going to be tough.
“The guy who wins the mental battle will win.”
There's a good chance that would be — Woods, winner of five
of his past six events and 50 percent since the 1999 Memorial.
“Tiger has been winning the mental battle,” Love said.
“And making more putts. He keeps coming out on top.”
Even Woods admits he hasn't played the perfect round. It just
looks that way to his pursuers.
At last year's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Woods shot a 12-under-par
272, a record in relation to par. Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez
finished second, 15 strokes back, at 3 over par.
No runner-up has ever been further from the checkered flag in
the history of major championship golf.
“In major championships, even Tiger is going to make mistakes,”
Els said. “This week, he's going to make mistakes because
this golf course is as tough as I've seen, especially on and around
the greens.
“But what Tiger does better than the rest of us is he misses
in a spot where he can get up and down for par. The rest of us
pay for our mistakes. That's why Tiger is beating us.”
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)
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